Keys & Drum-Pads

They Keys & Pad module consists of three different interfaces, that can all send MIDI Notes to Live and other applications running on your computer.

You can switch to a traditional keyboard or drumpads by pressing the corresponding buttons on the sidebar.

In Fullscreen mode, you can either maximize one of the interfaces - or show two different interfaces at the same time.

By default, the isomorphic keyboard is shown. In 'In Key' mode, the isomorphic keyboard will filter out all notes that are not included in the currently activated scale.

If you switch to 'Chromatic' mode, all notes are shown - even those that are not included in the current scale.

Each of the interfaces has five optional views that can be shown or hidden in the sub menu.

Two of them are shown right now, the octave selector and the scales menu.

The other optional views include velocity options, note repeats and a pitch wheel.

Let's start with the octave selector.

To switch the current octave, move the slider up or down. Easy enough.

Now, let's switch the current scale

Tap a different scale in the scale menu and watch how the isomorphic grid changes.

Change the root note.

If 'Fixed' is activated, the root note of the scale will be positioned in the lower left corner of the grid.

If it is deactivated, the lower left note will always be a C.

To change the velocity of the notes, Let's open the velocity option view by tapping the button in the sub menu.

You can choose between ‘Global’ and ‘Range’ velocity.

In ‘Global’ mode each note played will have the velocity that is currently selected with the fader in the velocity menu.

In ‘Range’ Mode the keys will adjust their velocity to the position of the touch. The lower you hit the key, the higher the velocity will be.

The Keys will show a stronger feedback if the note played has a higher velocity.

Let's switch to the traditional keyboard.

By default, one complete octave is shown. You can increase this number to up to 4 octaves, by pinching the octave selector with two fingers.

Bring up the pitch wheel to pitch bend the currently played notes.

There was one more option hidden in the sub menu.. Aftertouch! Activate it and play a key. Keep holding the key, and slowly move your finger up and down. The feedback of the key changes with the aftertouch value.

The third interface available is the drum pads. They do not have access to the scales view, but they do have another speciality: If the currently selected track has drum-pads available, the drum pad module will show the sample names for each key! And if you do not like the standard samples in the drum rack, you can access the browser, and drag and drop samples directly onto the drum pads to load them in the corresponding slot.

The Note repeat options give you three different ways to repeat the notes that you are playing. 'Hold' mode repeats the notes as long as you keep pressing them. They keep reacting if you change the interval with the slider.

in 'Toggle' mode, they will keep repeating until you press them again. You can change their interval by changing the slider that appears inside the drum pad.

In 'Mixed' mode, notes will toggle to repeat if you press them quickly - or repeat momentarily if you press the key for a longer while.